Swan Song
by Aini NuFire
Summary: Apocalypse Wars, Episode 10 - The fate of the world will be decided as the warriors of Heaven, Hell, and Earth converge for the final battle.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here we are at the final episode! And there's only two chapters, so things are happening fast.**

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NOW

Dean paced the length of the map table in the angel compound, anxiously waiting for word from Cas or Gabriel. Sam had called him on the radio to let him know what was going on, and Dean had immediately rushed over. Not that there was anything he could actually do but wait. And he hated waiting.

"Would you stop that?" Hester snipped when he pivoted to trace the same path again.

Dean pulled up short and tightened his jaw. "Sorry," he bit out.

Hester crossed her arms and looked away. "We're all worried," she said a moment later, sounding uncharacteristically understanding. "Just…you're practically vibrating and it's distracting."

Dean shifted and sat against the edge of the map table instead. But he was on his feet again a second later when Sam and Hael came in from one of the back corridors.

"How's Muriel?" he asked.

"Resting," Hael replied. "She'll recover."

Dean nodded. That was good news, at least. Now they just needed Cas, Gabriel, and Balthazar to get back with Anna.

Why did Dean suspect that rescuing someone from Heaven would be as difficult as one angel infiltrating Hell to save a lost soul? Maybe even more so.

They weren't kept in suspense much longer before the door opened, letting in a shaft of light split by a large shadow as someone shambled through the tunnel into the war room. Two someones.

Balthazar had one arm wrapped around Anna's waist as he helped support her staggered steps. She was favoring her left side, and was covered in fresh bruises and abrasions. Hael immediately rushed over to meet them, reaching to take Anna's other arm.

Anna tried to shrug the healer off. "I'm fine."

Balthazar scoffed. "Yes, you look the picture of it."

Anna shot him a glower. "I'll live."

He guided her to a chair and gently deposited her into it, then looked at Hael. "Go ahead."

"Guys—"

"Ah!" Balthazar made a sharp shut-up gesture. "All your decision making privileges have been revoked until further notice."

Anna looked too taken aback to come up with another retort, and Hael took the silence as an opportunity to step in and start examining her patient.

Dean exchanged an awkward look with Sam, and then his little brother cleared his throat nervously.

"What about Cas and Gabriel?"

Balthazar's flinty expression hardened further. "Gabriel was fighting Michael and Raphael. Castiel went to help him while Anna and I made our escape."

Dean's throat tightened; he didn't like the sound of those odds. He kept fidgeting and had to fight the urge to start pacing again. "Something feels wrong," he found himself saying without really intending to.

Balthazar's gaze snapped toward him. "Is it Castiel?"

Dean rolled his shoulder, grimacing. "I'm not sure." He looked to Sam questioningly, as his brother also had a profound bond with the angel, but Sam just shrugged back, also seeming at a loss.

An abrupt bang made them both jump, and Dean tensed a second before Gabriel came stumbling into the compound, looking a lot more worse for wear than Dean had ever seen him. The archangel's eyes immediately went to Balthazar and Anna, and there was a flicker of relief before he frantically whipped his gaze around.

"Is Castiel here?" Gabriel asked breathlessly.

Dean felt the pit of his stomach drop out from under him. _No, no, no_.

"He's not with you?" Balthazar responded urgently, his face drained of color. "He went to help you, after we found Anna."

Gabriel's pallor was also stark white, and he shook his head, which caused him to sway. He shot a hand out to brace himself on the back of Anna's chair. "He did."

Anna twisted to look up at him. "Then, what happened?"

Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut under what looked like a wave of dizziness, and Hael darted over to help support him. "Michael got the Seals. I couldn't hold off him and Raphael for long. Michael cast a spell, something to drain my grace."

Dean's brows shot upward. "Like Lucifer?"

"Not quite," Gabriel replied darkly. "Michael said he wanted to use it for something, not sure what. But then Castiel was there. He tackled Michael and dragged him into the ether, disrupted the spell."

It took Dean a moment to process that. Cas had flung Michael, an _archangel_ , into the ethereal currents. So…where was he now?

"I was hoping Cas had gotten away and made it back here," Gabriel continued, and the crack in his voice only emphasized that it hadn't worked out that way.

"Does that mean Michael has him?" Dean asked roughly.

Gabriel shook his head and looked away. Dean couldn't help glancing at Anna, whose complexion had blanched several shades at the news. He knew what she was probably thinking, that the rescue mission had only succeeded in Cas trading places with her. Except now Michael also had the Seals, which meant there was nothing left to trade for Cas's life.

Dean's blood turned to ice, but he immediately shoved the feeling away. "Cas is still alive," he declared. "I would know if he wasn't."

"You said you felt something was wrong," Hester pointed out softly.

"No," Sam spoke up, just as firmly as Dean. "Dean and I would be able to feel it."

Dean nodded in fervent agreement. "Maybe he got away, but is hurt and hiding somewhere. Sam and I can try to find him through the bond. We've done it before."

"To be fair, you have," Sam put in. "But I can try to make contact through the link while you're focusing on the homing beacon."

Fine by Dean, as long as they were doing _something_.

Gabriel nodded gravely. "Michael wanted my grace for something. Since he didn't get it…he might use Castiel as a replacement."

Dean's gut cramped at that thought. "Then we'd better hurry."

* * *

When Castiel regained consciousness, he immediately wished he hadn't. He had a splitting headache and just the thought of trying to open his eyes sent spikes of pain shooting behind his lids. Shifting, he became aware of his hands forced close together, followed by the feel of unforgiving steel clamped around his wrists. Terror zinged through him, and he finally forced his eyes open. It hurt like he'd expected it to, and his vision was blurry at first, but he blinked rapidly until the smudges cleared.

He was lying on his side on gravel, wrists handcuffed in the front. The celestial bracelets glinted brightly and were hot against his skin, suggesting they had only recently been forged from matter extracted from the ether. And with sinking realization and terror, Castiel knew who had made them.

He rolled partway onto his back to get a look at his surroundings, and was surprised to find that he was still on Earth. At the Devil's Gate, in fact. Though he couldn't fathom why that would be the case.

He was at the edge of the bottom of the crater, which was devoid of demons. What could have made them scatter so thoroughly… Of course. Castiel's gaze fell on a tall figure standing several feet away. Michael turned as though sensing he was awake.

"Good," the archangel said without preamble. "I don't want you to miss this."

A flicker of dread started to worm its way through Castiel's stomach. "Miss what?" he asked warily.

Michael stalked around him. Castiel hated being prone on the ground in such a vulnerable position, so he tried to inch up at least a little, though it made his head spin.

"I've found a way to end this war once and for all, for Heaven to finally achieve victory over Hell and Earth." He paused. "Poetic, isn't it? That the faithful rebel who tried so hard to save everyone will now be the sacrifice to implement their destruction."

Castiel furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out all four Seals. Castiel's eyes widened. Surely Michael wasn't planning on throwing Lucifer back in the Cage—that would defeat his entire purpose.

One by one, Michael began to snap the pieces together, the runes carved on each medallion lining up with the grooves on the other fragments, creating a whole sigil.

"The key may open the Cage, but it's tied to all of Hell. All I have to do is use it to widen the Devil's Gate and reverse the polarity, so that everything on this planet gets sucked into the Pit and sealed there for all eternity. Earth will be a clean slate, and Heaven will reign supreme."

Castiel gaped at him dubiously. "That's not how the Seals are meant to function," he blurted.

Michael's gaze zeroed in on him with an almost gleeful malice. "No, it's not. But given the right power source, the vortex can be established and maintained until every last scrap of dust is banished from this plane." The archangel canted his head in a considering moue. "I was going to use Gabriel's grace, but since you were quick to take his place on the chopping block, yours will do."

Castiel's heart seized, and he recoiled as Michael suddenly knelt down beside him and thrust the Seals against Castiel's chest. The archangel's strength drove him flat on his back and pinned him to the ground. Castiel tried to squirm away, but Michael lashed his other hand out to grab Castiel's throat and squeezed. Guttural Enochian rumbled from Michael's lips as Castiel writhed and gasped beneath the unyielding archangel.

And then Castiel felt his grace begin to stretch and pull. The rest of the oxygen stole from his lungs as a painful tear ripped through him, threads of his grace being yanked apart and woven through the tiny holes in the Seal medallions. It wasn't exactly like when Lucifer had tried to rip out his grace, for Michael wasn't attempting to sunder his essence, just bind it to the Seals.

When his grace finally settled and Michael let up, Castiel sagged on the ground, chest heaving. The Seals felt like a heavy weight pressing upon his ribs, despite their small size, and his torso was tingling from the foreign object forced to mingle with his grace.

Michael stood up and took a step back, eyes dark and full of blazing fury. He began to utter another incantation, though Castiel didn't hear it in full, as blinding fire scorched through him and he screamed as the Seals lit up, drawing on the energy of his grace like a thousand lightning rods.

The ground shook and the air creaked. Fulvous red flared in Castiel's peripheral vision, and he angled his head toward it. The portal was pulsing as it pushed itself wider, tearing a further rent in space.

Michael smirked. "Now watch the wretched world you love burn."

Castiel gasped and shuddered, barely able to breathe as whatever spell Michael had cast tapped into his grace and channeled it into the Seals to fuel itself. Blood was roaring in his ears, coupled by the howling gales picking up around them. He thought he heard the echo of demonic roars.

Michael stood over him, head held high in the blowing wind. Castiel squeezed his eyes shut as hot moisture built up, a single track slipping free.

And then a voice that sent chills down his spine spoke from behind.

"What are you doing, brother?"

Castiel's eyes shot open with a strangled breath as his worst nightmare came to full fruition.

Michael turned to face the Devil. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away, not with this." He gestured at the ever-growing Devil's Gate. Pebbles along the rim were already being slurped into the vortex. Soon, the foundations of the earth would follow, the planet collapsing in on itself like a black hole.

Lucifer's mien was hard and inscrutable. "I never wanted to fight you, brother."

Michael let out a derisive scoff. "Don't give me that. You betrayed me—all of us—and you made our father leave."

Lucifer's eyes seemed oddly sad for a brief second. "No one makes Dad do anything. And you keep blaming me for stuff that might not even be my fault."

Michael bristled. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Castiel held his breath, though he was essentially forgotten, bound as he was on the ground while the archangels argued above him. If only it was an opening for escape, but he couldn't move, and the spell was gaining in magnitude. He didn't even know if he'd survive through to its completion.

"Think about it," Lucifer pressed. "Dad made everything. Which means he made me who I am! God wanted the Devil."

Michael shook his head scornfully. "You know, you haven't changed a bit, little brother. Always blaming everybody but yourself. You're a monster, Lucifer. And I have to kill you."

Lucifer was silent for a beat, and when he spoke again, his voice was low and dark, crackling with the stirrings of a storm. "If that's the way it's got to be…then I'd like to see you try."

His grace erupted into the fiery red silhouette of a screeching dragon, eyes blazing blood-red as leathery wings snapped taut behind Lucifer's back. Castiel instinctively flinched and tried to roll out of the way.

Michael's golden aura shot out into an equally giant wingspan. A raptor's predatory beak opened in a shriek, followed by two taloned feet planting themselves firmly on the ground as the archangel's grace animal shimmered around him, spanning into the angular curves of a feline's brawny shape.

The griffin reared up to face the serpent, and then the two creatures collided with a thunderous crack and explosion that shook the earth and filled the air with burning ozone.

Castiel curled in on himself and tried to reel his grace back in, to keep the spell from igniting faster, as the wrath of Heaven and Hell fought it out above him.

* * *

The rumbling of the jeep over rough terrain jostled Sam where he was sitting shotgun and trying to concentrate on putting himself into an almost meditative state. He gritted his teeth and kept trying.

He wished he'd spent more time practicing how to access the link between him and Cas so that making contact telepathically came easier. Of course, being in a car speeding down old roads wasn't exactly helping, but while Sam was focusing on the aspect of the bond he was more familiar with, Dean was doing the same, following his own sense of the connection between them and Cas in order to track down the angel's location the only way he knew how—get in the car and drive.

Creaking leather in the backseat distracted Sam again, and he let out a huff of frustration. Gabriel and Balthazar's impatience was practically palpable, and Sam figured they weren't fond of the mortal way of travel, either, but it was the only avenue they had at the moment. At least the other angels from the garrison were following through the ethereal slipstreams.

Sam glanced in the side mirror at the truck behind them where Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and Risa were all armed and ready for war. When the Winchesters had rushed back to camp to get a vehicle, they'd had to explain to the others what was going on. And those four had insisted on coming. Because if Michael was up to something, they'd need all hands on deck, as Bobby had said. Not to mention the loyalty that had been fostered between the humans and rebel angels over the past several months, and recent weeks, especially. Sam was actually proud of that, and the united front bolstered his resolve and courage.

So he closed his eyes and focused on trying again to reach out through the bond to his lost brother.

They had to be getting closer, because Sam could feel the link becoming stronger, firmer, more tangible as something he could grasp onto. He was finally able to block out everything else and focus on that thread, no longer faint and wispy like a single spider web strand, but solid and sharp like a harp string.

Sam dove further into his subconscious, following the cord's vibrations through to the other side. He suddenly found himself standing in a black expanse of nothingness. His stomach dropped out from under him, though his brain registered the feeling of something solid beneath his feet, so he wasn't falling into an abyss. It wasn't quite darkness the way he imagined the cold void of a black hole would be, either. In fact, the black had an almost obsidian sheen to it.

Reflected light broke the featureless sea, and Sam whirled around to find Cas suddenly there. But he was lying on the glossy ground—if it could be called ground—silvery cords of pulsing energy looped around him like rope.

"Cas!" Sam hurried over and dropped down next to the angel, hands hovering a few inches away from the strange cords. If this was a telepathic link, what the hell was that stuff?

Cas lolled his head up and squinted. "Sam?"

"Yeah, it's me. Through the bond. What is this?"

Cas let out a strained grunt. "Michael," he ground out. "Bound my grace to the Seals. He's trying to…banish the entire earth…into Hell." Cas grimaced and sucked in a harsh gasp.

Sam's heart skipped a beat. Shit, that was bad. He roved his gaze over the electric cords. "Why did he bind your grace to the Seals?"

"Needed an…energy source."

It took Sam a split second to process that, and his eyes widened in horror. "Wait, _you_?" Oh god, would that kill him?

Cas choked on a pained sound again and his form shimmered to translucent for a moment. Sam felt the space around them wobble, despite not being able to see anything, and realized he couldn't sustain the connection much longer.

"Cas, where are you?" he asked urgently.

But Cas was starting to fade again, eyes squeezed shut under an assault of pain.

"Cas!" Sam shouted, his voice coming out muffled to his own ears, as though he were calling out under water. "Cas, we're coming for you! Just hang on! We're coming!"

Cas disappeared, and Sam was pitched backward violently into darkness.

He came back to himself with a jolt, the rumble of the car's engine vibrating up through the seat cushion.

"Sammy?" Dean called worriedly.

Sam jerked his head around to find Gabriel and Balthazar both leaning forward from the backseat, pressed too close. Dean was focusing on the road, but casting sideways glances at him. Sam swallowed.

"I managed to get through," he said hoarsely.

"Well, where is he?" Balthazar asked. "Is he okay?"

Sam gave himself a small shake. "He said Michael's trying to cast everything on Earth into Hell, and he's bound Cas's grace to the Seals like some kind of battery." Sam clenched his fists. "I couldn't keep the connection going. I think the spell is draining Cas."

"That's what he wanted my grace for," Gabriel said.

"Did he say where he is?" Balthazar pressed.

Sam shook his head regretfully.

"Doesn't matter," Dean spoke up, voice low with staunch intent. "We're getting close. I can feel it."

So could Sam. He just hoped they wouldn't be too late.

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 **A/N: Check out my awesome beta reader 29-pieces-of-me on deviantart for the final art piece for this series! I'll let you find out who she drew. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's followed, favorited, and reviewed the episodes in this verse. I had a lot of fun with it, and I'm glad you did too. ^_^**

* * *

 **Part II**

Dean's sternum was starting to vibrate, like he was standing right next to a jet engine without the sound component assaulting his eardrums. He didn't want to think about what was being done to Cas to trigger the sensation, how much worse it was for the angel on the receiving end of it. But it meant Cas was still alive, and Dean was gonna be grateful for that small assurance as he gunned it down the abandoned highway.

Balthazar abruptly leaned forward from the backseat. "We're heading toward the Devil's Gate."

Dean stiffened. Shit, he hadn't even realized, having been so focused on simply following the invisible tug resonating deep inside his soul. But it made sense, if Michael was trying to banish the Earth into Hell; why not use the portal that was already open?

There was a small 'zpp', and Dean twisted his head around to find the backseat suddenly empty. "Dammit," he cursed, ramming the gas pedal harder. Damn angels and their flight and not waiting for the rest of them.

No, they'd get to Cas that much faster and get him out of that hell hole.

Or so Dean hoped more than anything as remembered terror started surfacing from the first time he'd been at the Devil's Gate, when it had first opened and he'd been dragged into Hell. And now instead of the doorway spilling out demons onto Earth, it would be trying to suck them all in.

Just like that vision in the mountain cave where the first Seal was buried had said. Its warning was coming true after all.

Dean's heart stuttered, and his instincts were screaming at him to turn around and _run_.

But he wouldn't. Not then. Not now. That wasn't who he was.

They careened past the broken welcome sign for the town that had been the first to fall to the demons spilling from the Devil's Gate. The sky was awash with silver and blue lightning streaking through the air and colliding in crackling starbursts. Dean assumed they had to be angels.

He slammed on the brakes and brought the jeep to a skidding halt at the edge of the crater. Both he and Sam scrambled out, the others in the vehicle behind them doing the same a split moment later.

Dean pulled up short at the ridge. The Devil's Gate was twice as big as he remembered it, reaching all the way to two of the sloping sides. Down in the basin, two figures were locked in combat, their human forms barely visible within the shimmering grace shields extended around them, one a fiery red dragon Dean instantly recognized with a thrill of fear, the other an equally terrifying aura of golden wings and talons. Michael?

The crater was also full of demons that were spilling over the sides across from the human hunters, both beasts and humanoid. Dean watched one get too close to the pulsing portal and get sucked inside. The others were charging away from the Gate and toward a lump on the ground this side of the caldera.

No, not a lump— _Cas_. Dean's lungs seized as a brutish demon came galumphing toward the prone angel, but before it could lay a claw on Cas, Gabriel's golden eagle came swooping down from the sky with a shriek and snatched the beast up. But more were coming, maybe able to sense that Cas was the source of the spell trying to banish them, or they'd been given orders. Either way, Dean and Sam needed to get down there.

He whirled back toward the jeep and sprinted around to the back to grab one of the submachine guns loaded with angel bullets, which worked just as well on demons, too. "Sam and I will cover Cas," Dean ordered. "You guys cover us."

Everyone made an urgent dash for their weapons, and then Dean and Sam wordlessly started their foray into the battle in order to reach their friend. Demons heading toward their position started dropping as rapid gunfire punctuated the sounds of fighting already echoing through the sky. Dean didn't even slow his descent as he fired haphazardly across the crater. Most of the angel fighting was happening in the air, so he didn't have to worry about hitting any friendlies. Except for the archangels, who were currently brawling halfway across the basin. The ground shook from the impacts of their grace animals throwing themselves at each other.

Dean and Sam reached Cas and dropped down beside him, trusting the other hunters to watch their backs. Cas's hands were cuffed, and he was curled in on himself in what looked like spasms of pain.

"Cas!" Dean gripped the angel's shoulder.

Cas forced his eyes open with a gasp, expression blanching in horror. "No, you have to get out of here," he ground out.

"Not a chance," Dean snapped back. He jumped to his feet again and shot a demon that was getting too close. Then he dropped back down and scanned Cas for injuries. He spotted the Seals, now connected into a larger shape, seemingly held against Cas's chest by unseen magnets. Dean reached for them and tried to rip them off, but they didn't budge.

Cas shook his head. "It's no use. They're bound to my grace."

Crap. "Alright, can you stand?"

Cas propped himself up onto his elbows and shook his head again. "It won't matter. My grace is powering the spell to open Hell further. Distance won't make a difference."

Dean exchanged a panicked look with Sam. What were they supposed to do?

Cas grunted. "If we can get these cuffs off, I can try to take control of the spell. Maybe even redirect it to open the Cage instead."

Dean wanted to ask then what, but they didn't have time. He set his gun aside and reached into his jacket for his lock picks. Funny how in the Apocalypse he'd never gotten out of the habit of carrying them, mostly because they'd gone from breaking into crime scenes or monster lairs to breaking into buildings to scavenge supplies.

Sam continued to pick off demons while Dean worked, though trying to keep his hands steady enough for this task in the middle of a friggin' war zone was a new feat for him. But he finally managed. The cuffs fell away and Cas rubbed at his wrists as he tried to sit all the way upright.

"Are you sure about this?" Dean asked worriedly.

Cas nodded, though his expression was grim. "I have to try."

Right, because if they didn't, it was the end of the world once and for all.

"Okay," Dean said. "We'll watch your back."

He scooped up his gun and lurched to his feet to join Sam in firing at the swarms of demons converging around them. Up on the periphery of the crater, the Harvelles, Bobby, and Risa had taken up positions and were shooting down as many demons as they could, but that had also drawn attention, and some of the hell beasts had started heading their way. Dean fired at one slinking up toward Jo below her line of sight. It exploded in a puff of black vapor.

He cast a look back at Cas, who was still sitting on the ground, one hand clutched around the Seals pressed to his chest, eyes squeezed shut in concentration. The portal to Hell gave a sputter and then seemed to shrink a fraction. Dean hoped that wasn't his imagination…

"That's it, Cas!" Sam shouted in encouragement.

Not his imagination, then. Filled with a surge of hope, Dean spun and took out three more demons charging toward them. A hellhound slunk over the ridge above them and came loping down. Dean whipped his gun up and fired four times into the ghastly beast, its pained yowls piercing the air amidst the discordant cries of other dying creatures.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, and he whirled as a vaporous entity came shooting toward him. Yet before he could get his gun up, a phantasmic blue fox zipped down from above and snatched the smoky snake between its teeth, tearing it away.

The Devil's Gate continued to contract in size, and now when demons ran past it, they weren't sucked inside. Which was no longer helpful, but at least it meant Cas must have reversed the spell to get the rest of them thrown into Hell, too.

Unfortunately, it was apparently drawing more attention.

The electrifying griffin suddenly broke away from Lucifer's dragon and came barreling toward the Winchesters. Dean nearly tripped backward when it landed in front of Cas, a tall man with dark hair and blazing golden eyes standing in the middle of the huge grace animal.

"What are you doing?" he seethed at Cas, who merely glared up defiantly.

Dean swung his gun that way. "You must be Michael. Nice to meet you, asshat." He squeezed the trigger and peppered the archangel with a series of rapid fire bullets.

The griffin's amorphous contours spurted from the impacts and it screeched, though two managed to hit dead center and strike the human form. Michael staggered back a step, eyes flying wide with surprised pain, but the bullets didn't bring him down.

There was a gust of air as two massive wingbeats preceded the dragon landing a few feet away.

"You disgusting human," Lucifer snarled. "You dare attack my brother?"

Dean's jaw slackened in stupefaction. Wha- weren't those two just trying to _kill_ each other?

Lucifer's eyes blazed red. "I should pop your head like the pustule you are."

Dean instinctively took a frightened step back, but then stopped and frowned as he spotted the ground behind the Devil starting to crumble and disintegrate, falling in on itself to create a gaping hole that seemed to go down into an abyss.

Lucifer paused, eyes narrowing a fraction, and he cast a look over his shoulder.

"Castiel, don't you dare!" Michael shouted.

Lucifer whipped back around, expression livid. "You think you can throw me back in the Cage?" he raged at Cas.

Two pops sounded, spaced apart. Lucifer dropped first, then Michael, like puppets with their strings cut, and their grace animals dissolved in on themselves. Dean gaped at them incredulously before lifting his gaze to his brother, who was holding the Colt.

"Cas, hurry," Sam urged.

Right, the Colt wouldn't keep them down for long. Dean spotted the handcuffs he'd taken off Cas, and in a split second of brashness, snatched them up and hurried to snap them on the two archangels. Then he scrambled backward as they started to stir.

Michael raised a hand to clutch his forehead, only to stop as he was met with resistance. The moment he saw he was chained to Lucifer, his face turned an irate shade of puce. Lucifer's nostrils flared with rage as both archangels lurched to their feet.

"Why you putrescent little—" Michael started, spittle flying from his mouth, but he was interrupted by a shriek as Gabriel swooped down and landed between the archangels and the Winchesters.

He arched a brow at the handcuffs. "Hey, now there's a good look."

"Gabriel," Michael seethed, and took a menacing step forward, only to be hampered by Lucifer.

Gabriel gave the Devil an almost regretful look, which made Lucifer's eyes crinkle in confusion. "You both leave me no choice."

The rebellious archangel turned to Michael and punched him so hard in the chest that it sounded like thunder. Michael reeled backward—falling right into the Pit. Lucifer's eyes blew wide just as his brother's weight yanked him in as well, and they fell, almost in slow motion, into the dark chasm.

Dean stared dumbly long after their figures had disappeared. Had they just…?

Cas suddenly let out a pained grunt and bowed forward, digging his fingers into the dirt.

"Cas!" Dean dropped down next to him as the angel pitched to the side. "What is it?"

Cas choked on a strained sound. "I can't…close it. Not without…being sucked in too."

Dean's heart shot up into his throat. "No, no, no, you have to hold on!"

Cas slid a fraction through the gravel, and Dean grabbed his arm to hold him back. Sam also dropped his weapons to latch onto Cas, both of them digging their heels in as the vortex in the earth raged louder.

Cas shook his head. "I can't," he forced out through gritted teeth. "You have to let go. I won't pull you in with me!"

Gabriel dropped down in front of them. "No one's going anywhere," the archangel said fiercely, and reached out to grab the Seals. His eyes flared with sapphire brilliance, and Cas screamed.

Dean couldn't see what was going on, but Gabriel was rotating his hands and flexing his fingers as though literally trying to undo a knot, and Dean's stomach clenched as he imagined Cas's grace tangled up in the Seals. His muscles started to strain as he clung to his best friend, the abyss only five feet away.

And then suddenly the weight dragging on Cas vanished, and Dean fell backward with the angel on top of him and Sam. Gabriel jumped to his feet and turned to toss the Seals into the Pit. The gaping portal shuddered, and then the ground folded back up to cover it, like it had been nothing more than a trapdoor.

Gabriel then pivoted toward the Devil's Gate, which was now merely a small crack in space, and shot a beam of blazing golden light at it. There was a crackling rupture as it was destroyed. The demons that remained in the crater had now turned and were fleeing up and over the ridges. In the sky above, several glowing phantasms were retreating into the heavens.

Dean pushed himself up onto his elbows, chest heaving. He glanced at Sam and Cas in disbelief. They were alive. And they'd _won_.

Crinkling pebbles drew his attention to the slope where Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and Risa were making their way down to join them. The rest of the angels in the sky that belonged to Gabriel's garrison were also gliding down to land.

Sam got to his feet first, and reached down to give Cas a hand up. The angel looked exhausted, but he gave the Winchesters a small smile of sheer relief.

"I can't believe we did it," Cas breathed.

"What about the Seals?" Sam asked as Dean stood up as well.

Gabriel shrugged. "Lost. They opened the Cage and then locked it by literally throwing themselves away."

"Uh," Dean interjected, "Michael and Lucifer can't use them to get back out, can they?"

"No," Gabriel assured him. "The Seals are long gone." He sighed. "I have to wonder if that was maybe Dad's plan all along."

Dean just shook his head; he didn't care one way or the other on that front, just that things were finally over. He clapped a hand on Cas's shoulder. "You good?"

The angel nodded. "I will be. Thank you."

Dean felt the beginnings of a giddy grin plaster across his face. They'd actually done it. Won the war, beat destiny…saved the _world_.

Dean beamed at his brother and best friend. "Let's go home."

* * *

Castiel rode back with the Winchesters in their jeep. Not that he couldn't have taken the ethereal currents along with the rest of his garrison, but after everything they'd been through, he was happy to just…sit, for a while. It was all a lot to process, too, having achieved a victory that had seemed almost impossible from day one. And with the fight over…what came next?

There was a crowd gathered in the center of Camp Chitaqua when they drove through the gate, along with most of the garrison.

"Is it true?" someone shouted when the Winchesters climbed out of their vehicle.

Gabriel sauntered over to them. "I couldn't resist spilling the beans." He then pivoted and clapped his hands together. "All hail the conquering heroes!"

Sam and Dean exchanged disbelieving looks before turning to address the camp.

"It's true," Sam confirmed. "The Apocalypse is over."

A cheer went up, and people started to converge on the Winchesters and their other human companions who had fought beside them at the Devil's Gate.

Castiel frowned. "It will take a long time for humanity to rebuild, and there are still demons on the loose," he pointed out.

"Oh, details," Gabriel huffed, but then his expression sobered. "Heaven will be in as much disrepair as Earth."

Castiel started; he hadn't even considered what the state of Heaven would be now, nor that he would ever see it again after having rebelled. "Are we going home?" he asked incredulously.

Gabriel nodded. "There's a lot of work to do up there, but I think we can handle it."

Indeed, Castiel suspected that restoring order would not be easy, as Raphael was bound to be unhappy. Still, there was hope, and it had been a long time since they'd had any of that.

His gaze caught a head of red hair weaving through the crowd toward him, and his heart lifted. "Anna."

She looked much better than she had in Zachariah's torture chamber.

Anna stopped in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right? Balthazar told me what happened at the Gate."

"I'm fine," he assured her.

She searched his gaze for a moment before shaking her head in exasperation. "I thought you knew better than to pull sacrificial stunts like that."

"I learned from my captain," he replied.

Anna let out a snort, but then pulled him into a hug.

"How's Muriel?" Castiel asked when he drew back.

"She's okay. She's around here somewhere." Anna roved her gaze around the throng. "What a day this is," she marveled. "The end of war, and of this strange partnership we somehow managed to cultivate with humans."

Castiel's mouth turned down as his eyes automatically drifted toward where he knew the Winchesters were, surrounded by friends. Almost as if sensing his attention, they glanced over their shoulders to meet his gaze, and smiled. Castiel nodded in return, though at the moment his thoughts were not as jovial as the situation warranted.

The crowd began to thin out as people returned to their cabins and many of the garrison headed back to the pocket dimension to begin packing up. Castiel, however, lingered.

Dean and Sam walked over.

"I know the world isn't gonna be fixed tomorrow," the older Winchester started, "but I still think we should drink to today. What do you say, Cas? Know where Balthazar's stash is?"

Castiel frowned. They wanted him to raid Balthazar's cache of wine?

"I do," Gabriel interjected from a few yards away, and turned to come join them. "Consider it a farewell gift."

Sam quirked a confused brow. "Farewell? You're leaving?"

"With Michael out of the picture, there's going to be chaos in Heaven," the archangel replied. "But don't you guys worry about any of that. You've got a world to rebuild."

Both Winchesters shot their gazes to Castiel, looking shocked and perhaps a little disappointed. Castiel took a deep breath, and turned to his brother.

"I think I'll stay here, on Earth." He flicked a glance at the brothers. "I could remain here at the camp, or Gabriel could leave the pocket dimension intact…"

"Of course you can stay here," Dean interrupted.

Castiel gave a tentative smile, but sobered when he met Gabriel's eyes again.

His brother leveled a considering look at him. "We could use you, Cas. You're one of my best soldiers. Look how many of us you already helped to remember our duty to creation."

Castiel shifted his weight. "Then they can teach our brothers and sisters in Heaven the same. But…the humans still need our help, too."

Gabriel's gaze bored into him for another prolonged moment, then shifted to the Winchesters. His shoulders finally sagged with a sigh. "Can't say I'm all that surprised."

"I will come if you call," Castiel hurried to say. "If you ever need me."

Gabriel's mouth twitched with a smile. "I know. But you're right; there are too few able to fulfill our duty on Earth right now. And it's not exactly safe out there yet."

"Sounds like me and Sam should get back to hunting," Dean said. "Lots of demons still out there." He nodded to Castiel with a proud look. "The three of us in the family business."

Castiel's lips curved upward in agreement.

Hael, who had been standing a little ways away, suddenly crept forward. "I'd like to stay, too," she said hesitantly to Gabriel. "I can do a lot of good here, especially when medicine is becoming harder to find."

The archangel let out an exaggerated sigh, but then nodded in understanding to the meek healer. Castiel was mildly surprised by Hael's decision, but it made sense; she wasn't a fighter, and conflict in Heaven wasn't something she'd want to be in the middle of.

"I will leave the pocket dimension," Gabriel said. "Just in case you need it for any reason."

Castiel nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Gabriel, for everything."

His older brother flashed him a debonair grin. "Don't think I won't be checking up on you from time to time."

Castiel smirked. "Of course."

The archangel turned to Hael and wrapped her in a hug, then stepped away. He looked to Castiel, gave a stout nod, and then his grace rippled out in golden waves as he transformed into his eagle. With a beat of the massive, glowing wings, Gabriel ascended into the sky.

Castiel felt a small pang at the distance he would now have from the rest of his siblings. But their paths had diverged, for now, as was necessary. And goodbye wasn't forever.

Dean and Sam took a step closer to him, the auras of their souls a firm, bolstering presence. Castiel may have missed Heaven, but this was his home now, too. They'd all made a life here, a foundation to build upon for the weeks, months, and years to come. And yet, at the same time, as the three of them gazed out toward the horizon, there was a profound sense of something different.

A brave new world.


End file.
